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Little Shop
Little Shop 'is a 1991 animated TV Series inspired by the 1986 film but spun-off from the 1960 film by Roger Corman, who served as a creative consultant on the show. The gruesome themes which were prevalent in the previous versions of the story were nixed in the kid-friendly ''Little Shop - although it was humorously implied that Junior had eaten various people and animals. The TV series was made for FOX Kids Network, where it aired from 1991 to 1992. Plot 13 year-old Seymour Krelborn works at The Little Shop of Flowers, which is owned by Mr. Mushnick, whose daughter Audrey is the object of Seymour's affection. After being thrust into a dumpster by resident bully Paine Driller, Seymour winds up at the garbage dump, where he finds a fossilized seed. Seymour is surprised when the seed sprouts into a plant, which he names Audrey Junior (more commonly called "Junior") in an attempt to win over Audrey, and he's even more surprised that Junior can speak. Realizing that his prehistoric species has gone extinct, Junior instructs Seymour to keep his ability to vocalize a secret. Seymour and Junior engage in a variety of adventures, from collaborating on a local theatre production to trick-or-treating to building a time machine. There were frequently little morality lessons aimed at kids, which became a bit more blatant in the final episodes that were produced (self-image, dental hygiene, recycling, etc.). About In the series bible, the creators aimed to make a show "so unique, so funny, and so odd, that a child who doesn't watch it ill feel as if he's missing something." Characters frequently broke the fourth wall, pop culture jokes were sneaked in, they played "Where's Waldo?" with Jack Nicholson, and Junior was implied to have eaten a man who had attempted to drop a piano on Seymour. In the show's world, what happened in the previous episode could be referenced, and they assembled a community of recurring Skid Row players, all of whom were a little odd. The show was produced quickly and cheaply, headquartered in the USA, with vocals recorded in Canada and the animation outsourced to Korea, which occasionally created gaffes due to the barriers between the various crews. The animation style was minimalistic, but it was supplemented with bright colors, strange backgrounds, odd angles, and surreal setups in many of the show's musical numbers. In addition to the [[Little Shop (Theme Song)|'''opening theme]], every episode included three songs, with a general length of a minute each. Junior's songs were generally rap, with the other characters singing an assortment of rock, pop, and doo-wop tunes. The series was produced by Marvel Productions/Saban International, which was later absorbed by The Walt Disney Corporation. It's never legally been issued on DVD or been released on streaming platforms, but all of the episodes have surfaced on YouTube. Characters Regulars *Seymour Krelborn - 13 year old Seymour says that he "has everything it takes to be a nerd except brains." With his low self-esteem, he's unable to express his love for Audrey and he's a punching bag for bully Paine. The son of an aerobics instructor who barely knows he exists, Seymour's only friend is Junior, a prehistoric plant. *Junior - A relic of the vegezoic age which predates dinosaurs, Junior is an unabashed carnivore and delights on eating any form of meat he can get. Acting as a big brother figure to Seymour, he loves to boss the boy around and sometimes gets him into trouble. *Audrey Mushnick - While other girls her age are swooning over Macaulay Culkin and the New Kids on the Block, 13 year-old Audrey is completely oblivious to boys. Her dream in life is to become a firefighter, though every week she finds a new occupation to obsess over and distract her from her ultimate goal. *Mr. Mushnick - Middle-aged and in debt, Mr. Mushnick owns The Little Shop of Flowers, where Seymour works and his daughter helps out. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand Audrey's whims at all, and he frequently bullies Seymour with his sarcastic remarks. *Paine Driller - The son of an overzealous dentist, Paine has been fitted with every dental appliance imaginable in his father's quest for orthodontal perfection. But being the resident Skid Row bully, Paine uses his brace-face to shoot projectiles. He has a soft side, but he reserves it strictly for Audrey. *The Dim Bulbs - Although they can't speak like Junior, this group of flowers frequently magically appears to harmonize whenever anyone sings. Recurring *Mrs. Krelborn - An aerobics instructor and health nut, Mrs. Krelborn never stands still long enough to see her face. She's so constantly on-the-go that she barely notices that her son, Seymour, even exists. *Burson Fouch - Virtually nothing is revealed about Mr. Fouch, but his diet consists entirely of floral blossoms, so he's a regular fixture in The Little Shop of Flowers. *Jack Nicholson - His real name is unknown, but he bears such a striking resemblance to actor Jack Nicholson that we'll call him that. This jack-of-all-trades can't seem to hold a job, and he's seen working in various capacities from groundskeeper to stagehand to chef to hot dog vendor. *Dr. Mightus Appalling - Seymour's hero is a brilliant Nobel-prize winning scientist who's starred in countless educational films, but he's been down on his luck in recent years and is now living on Skid Row. *Igor - Dr. Appalling's laboratory assistant, whose name rhymes with "Seymour," pops up from time-to-time. As the result of a bizarre experiment, the bald Igor winds up with flowers blooming from his head. *Frankenstein's Monster - Although we learn almost immediately that he has a bride, little else is revealed about this flat-topped greenie, but he is once glimpsed in the same subway car as Igor, so it's entirely possible that he's actually Dr. Appalling's Monster. *Thespian Chinless - A failed actor and theater producer who directs a play at Seymour's school. He becomes jealous of Seymour for having written the play (which was actually written by Junior), so he attempts to drop a piano on him. Seymour is saved by a safety line attached to the piano, and Chinless is later implied to have been eaten by Junior. *Dr. Driller - Paine's irrepressible father feels that even those with perfect chompers have dental problems, and he's armed with tons of terrifying equipment to set their teeth straight! *Malocclusia Driller - A gold-digging former lounge singer, Malocclusia works as a receptionist for her brother, Dr. Driller, and she was briefly romantically involved with Mr. Mushnick. *Underbite - Paine's bulldog, who's more of a bully than his master. And just like everyone in the Driller family, Underbite has dental issues - notably prolonged teeth that protrude upward from his bottom lip. *Mrs. Webster - A junior high reading teacher, Mrs. Webster devotes her free time to the local community theater. *Coach Benchwarmer - The coach's rough exterior may house a warm heart, as he possesses uncharacteristic skills such as sewing and cooking. *Mr. Lonelyhearts - A gentleman with a mustache and bowler hat who frequents the shop to buy roses for his Friday night dates, always hoping that the latest woman that he's dining with will be his true love. Cast Cartoons from that era featured generic credits which were generally identical on every episode, and this frequently leads to inaccurate information and confusion. Two different sets of credits for this show seem to exist, and one does not include any voice credits at all. Each character seems to have performed by two different people: a voice actor and a singer. The singers were credited by character name and the actors were credited as "voices." Only these ten people received credits, all additional voices (which appear on IMDb) are uncredited. Jana Lexxa and Terry McGee have no further credits (and online information about them is non-existent), so it's possible that these were aliases or that their names were misspelled (the latter was the case with several other cast and crew members). *Seymour Krelborn - Marlow Vella (speaking voice), Jana Lexxa '''(singing voice) *Audrey Mushnick - '''Tamar Lee (speaking voice), Jennie Kwan '''(singing voice) *Mr. Mushnick - '''Harvey Atkin (speaking voice), Michael Rawl (singing voice) *Junior - Buddy Lewis (speaking voice), Terry McGee (singing voice) *Paine Driller - David Huband (speaking voice), 'Mark Ryan '(singing voice) Episodes The way that the episodes were broadcast does not necessarily reflect the order in which they were produced, creating a few gaffes in story continuity. __FORCETOC__ Category:Little Shop Of Horrors Category:Little Shop